Nature calls

I read a lovely poem the other day to my husband. It was about a duck sitting peacefully in the middle of a calm lake while the sun set. So peaceful. So serene. My husband raised one eyebrow. "The duck's probably sitting there because if it gets too close to the reeds a coyote or fox will finish it off". My husband. Always the pragmatist. And the trouble is he's turned me into one as well. I used to have a romantic notion about nature and life. As a city girl transplanted to the country I used to see a deer and get excited, now I watch it with a wary eye to make sure the dumb thing doesn't suddenly decide to spin around, jump the fence and hit my vehicle. Which has happened. Too many times. I used to love the sound of coyotes serenading us at night. Until they started eating my chickens and luring my dog into the bush and attacking it. And then there's squirrels. So cute. So fun to watch. Until they chewed a hole in the screen of my kitchen and promptly chewed a chunk out of ten loaves of home made bread cooling on the counter, made merry in the house pooping as they went knocking down ornaments and dragging sundry items to sundry places. Me and the squirrels are now at war. Me and nature have a different understanding now. And while I can still enjoy a sunset, appreciate the changing seasons, revel in a long walk outdoors, I know that deep in the bushes are the coyotes and the deer and the squirrels. And they are watching me.

Snow fun

We have snow. Lots of snow. Snow on the ground, snow on the tree branches, snow on my new car/van/suv. Don't quite know what to call it yet but now that all the snow is here I'm glad I got my Subaru Forester. I drove our '92 mini van for mini, mini years determined to eke out every kilometre I could. It got to be a point of honour. When I drove somewhere in the dear vehicle people would frown and say, "you still driving that thing?" I was determined, just out of orneriness to drive it till it quit. But then the snow came and the ice and the snow and the rain and the ice. Oh yes, and snow. I got stuck on my yard on a level spot. So I decided that pride goeth before me hitting the ditch and so I ditched my faithful mini van and bought the Subaru. So far, I love it, though I have to confess I felt a little tug of dislolyalty when I emptied out the glove box from the mini van and took my iPod charger, my phone charger, my sunglasses and my spare toque and mitts and put them in the Subaru. Now the van is parked in the 'vehicles waiting to be sold' part of our yard, joining my son's truck which is also there. I have to drive past the van every time I haul firewood to the house and I'm convinced it's looking very sad. It needs a new home. A place where someone will appreciate it's years of faithful service. So if you're interested in a '92 Chev mini van with 280,000 kilometres on it, no rust, no dents, good inside, few cracks on the windshield and lots of stories to tell if you only take the time to listen . . . . let me know.

choices

We are not a happy people. We grump around our lives complaining when someone cuts us off in traffic, when the person in front of us takes too long to pay for their groceries, when we can't buy the thing that we need RIGHT now (Sony Playstation anyone?). What is wrong with us? We have the highest standard of living, the most disposable income and yet people seem overall, disastisfied. I think it comes down to choices. We have too many. Every day we have to make too many decisions. Take coffee for instance. Used to be you just had a cup of coffee and you paid your money. Basic. Cream and sugar optional. NOW?Tall, skinny, grande, macchiato, French Vanilla, espresso, Frap-puccino, latte, capuccino and on and on. It dazzles the mind all the choices. Walk into any Staples and you don't just have pens and pencils and papers anymore. There are whole aisles devoted to the simple ball point pen - or rather ball point or gel or fountain pen and many variations of each of those. Maybe you should get a magazine to help you relax. Right. Check out any magazine aisle in any grocery store or drugstore and once again an avalanche of choices awaits you. Groceries, clothing, shoes, computers, phones - too many choices. We get confused and disoriented and then, in spite of the abundance in front of us, we get grumpy because we get afraid that somehow, somewhere a better pen, a tastier cup of coffee, a nicer vehicle awaits us. We might have made the wrong choice!